


Life in Colors

by allthingsconsidered (lastafterthought)



Category: Glee
Genre: Childhood Memories, Homophobia, M/M, Soulmates, tags and characters to be added as i go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:33:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24920866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lastafterthought/pseuds/allthingsconsidered
Summary: Soulmates AU where you only start seeing colors after you and your soulmate touches. After an incident at the park, Kurt and Dave started seeing colors for the first time. However, after Dave's family moves, their colors start fading away. Years later, they run into each other again, and suddenly they start seeing colors once more. One remembers their childhood, the other doesn't.Inspired by watching too many TikToks.
Relationships: Kurt Hummel/David Karofsky
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	1. The Color of the Sky

The first time Dave Karofsky ever saw color, he was five. At that point, he was sure that he was going to get to spend the rest of his life with his soulmate, and maybe they’d get to live happily ever after. In his eyes, his soulmate was perfect. Sure, he was four, and sure he didn’t particularly understand what soulmates really meant, but he just knew that this was someone he would get to be with forever. Besides, having someone to play with all the time? That was exciting. 

He had begged his mom to take him to the park, and while Diane Karofsky was a fairly busy woman and had several mock court cases that she was working on for school, David was her pride and joy. So when David wanted something, he usually got what he wanted. Equipped with her work and a nice picnic blanket, she led David to the park. “Be careful, okay? We can stay out till I’m done with these assignments, okay?” she explained. When his eyes shined with excitement, Diane couldn’t help but smile. She glanced towards the playground, spotting someone sitting alone at the swing set. “Why don’t you go play with that boy, he looks like he could use a friend,” she hummed. He glanced over, tilting his head, but then shrugged.

“Okay, Mommy,” he replied, and then gave her a quick hug and then took off towards the playground. Sighing, she knelt down and began jotting down notes on her current case.

Normally, Dave preferred playing with one of his friends, but since it had been raining for the past week, he was just excited that he could play at the park finally. He took off towards the swings, but stopped, hesitating. Could he introduce himself to the other little boy? He felt his heart skipping, and he felt like he needed to be close to the other boy. So he swallowed up his fear and walked up to him, giving a little wave. “Hi. Can I play with you?” he asked. 

When the boy lifted his head, Dave felt something surge through his body. Was this boy an angel? Even though he was a boy, Dave couldn’t help but think about how cute he was. Suddenly, he felt a little nervous. But, as the little kid looked up at him, his whole face seemed to lit up, a big smile spreading across his lips. “Okay!” he hummed. A feeling of relief swept through Dave, and he sat down immediately next to the boy. 

“I’m Dave!” Dave cheered. The kid tilted his head, his smile widening.  
“I’m Kurt.”  
“How come I’ve never seen you at the park before?” he asked. Kurt shrugged. 

“We just moved here,” he said, pointing to a house across the street. Dave’s own face lit up now. How lucky was he? He had a new friend next door!

“Hey, that’s next to my house!” He replied, pointing over at the house next door. Kurt beamed. “How old are you? Do you want to be friends?” he cheered. Kurt hesitated for a second, suddenly appearing shy. Dave tilted his head. Did he scare Kurt? 

“I’m five,” the smaller boy replied, biting his lip. “I...I’d like to be friends, I don’t have any yet,” he admitted. Dave beamed. 

“I’m five too!” he cheered. Another kid just his age! He was really really lucky!

\--

Whenever Dave saw Kurt and his mom going over to the park, he would make his mom take him over too. At the end of the day, Diane was happy that her son had finally found a friend that lived close. She had been able to get her school work done in peace, not having to worry about keep Dave entertained. 

Sometimes they would just play in the sandbox or Dave would show Kurt how he wasn’t scared of the monkey bars. Kurt had always wanted to climb the monkey bars, but his mommy had told him he was too little for them still. “Here, how about this Kurt, I’ll stand under you, and if you fall, I’ll catch you?” he offered. Kurt hesitated. What if he got hurt? What if Dave got hurt. “I promise Kurt, I’ll catch you! I’m a lot bigger than you so even if you fall, it won't hurt you, okay?” Dave repeated. Biting his lip, Kurt started to climb up onto the ladder. Quickly, Dave ran around, immediately getting ready to catch his friend. Kurt took a deep breath and then reached for the first monkey bar. Then the second, but by the third, he felt his hand slipping. Suddenly, he felt himself falling. Kurt tightly closed his eyes, expecting that Dave wouldn’t actually be able to catch him, but he never reached the ground. Instead, he felt himself falling onto his friend.

Dave gave a gasp and rushed to catch his friend. But as Kurt landed against him, Dave felt everything just shift for him. Suddenly, the world was changing, and he felt his heart racing like it had when he had first met Kurt.

Slowly, Kurt opened his eyes. He was okay! Things were weird though. Everything around him looked different. He rubbed his eyes, looking around. “What happened?” he asked. Dave stared down at him and then put him down. Both stood quietly, eagerly looking around. The world looked so different around them. “Are these colors?” he asked. Dave frowned.

“Colors?” he asked. Kurt nodded.

“My mommy told me that one day I’d meet someone and the world would look different. She said it was called colors,” he explained. Dave looked down at his hands. Before, everything had looked so boring, but now it looked pretty. He looked over at his friend and then blushed. He looked even cuter now than he did before. 

“Kurt, I don’t know what colors really are but your eyes are pretty...” he admitted. Kurt’s whole face felt as though it was immediately warm, and Dave noticed that his cheeks were changing colors. Right then and there, Dave decided that Kurt’s eyes were going to be his new favorite color. 

He really hoped that he and Kurt could see the colors together forever.

\--

While they were sitting in the grass, sharing Kurt’s snack, Dave came up with an idea. “We should make a secret handshake,” Dave announced, sticking out his hand. Kurt tilted his head.

“A secret handshake?” he said softly. Dave nodded.

“Yeah! I was watching a football game with my dad on TV, and these two guys did it, and when I asked my dad about it, he said it was a secret handshake. He also told me it was what best friends did, and you’re my best friend, so I think we should have one!” he explained. Kurt went wide-eyed. Dave thought they were best friends? Slowly, Kurt nodded, still staring at Kurt’s hand. Kurt nodded slowly, still staring at Dave’s hand. Slowly though, he took his friend's hand. Whenever Kurt touched Dave, he always felt a warm happy feeling. Dave slowly started showing him different handshakes. 

Kurt giggled the whole time. He really felt silly, but it didn’t matter. Dave thought they were best friends, so that made up for the fact that this all felt so silly. 

By the time that Dave’s mom announced that it was time to go home, they had perfected their handshake. “Next time we get to play together, let’s do that, so don’t forget, okay Kurt?” Dave called out. Kurt nodded eagerly. 

“I promise I’ll never forget our handshake, Dave!!” He promised. Dave beamed.

“I won't either!”

With a small, almost shy wave, Kurt ran off to find his mom, leaving Dave to find his own mother.

Minutes later, the two were standing at the crosswalk, waiting to cross. Dave bit his lip, thinking really hard. He wanted to ask her about colors, but he wasn't sure what his mom would say about that. He gripped his mom’s hand tightly as she started to lead them across the street. “Mommy, what color is the sky?” he asked curiously, staring up. She chuckled softly, glancing up herself. 

“Well Davey, most of the time it looks blue,” she replied. He nodded. Blue! So that’s what color Kurt’s eyes were. 

“And what about grass? And the stop sign? And my hair?” he continued. 

“Well, the grass is green. And the stop signs are usually red. You have brown hair. Why do you want to know?” she asked. He shrugged. 

“I just want to know what all the colors are,” he replied. She raised an eyebrow. How did he know about colors? When did Dave learn about colors? She knew that he had probably seen them watching things on the TV, but they never really talked about colors at home.

“Well, one day, when you meet your soulmate, you’ll get to see all of them!” she hummed voice soft as she seemed to stare straight ahead. Soulmate? Dave wanted to ask about soulmates, but he didn’t know if his mommy wanted him to ask anymore. But the way she had said it felt funny to Dave. Why had she sounded so sad about it? 

“Do you see colors mommy?” he asked. She hesitated and then nodded.

“Of course I do! Your daddy’s my soulmate, and when you touch your soulmate, you get to see all the colors,” she explained. He nodded. It made sense to him! So that meant that Kurt was his soulmate.

“Oh yeah! Kurt asked if I wanted to come over and play tomorrow, can I go?” he asked. Diane hesitated. She had only talked to Elizabeth Hummel a few times, but she seemed like a trustworthy woman. 

“I need to talk to his mommy first about it, but I suppose it should be fine if you play over at his house.” 

He beamed, excited, and began babbling about all the things he wanted to do with Kurt. That was the excitement that Diane loved so much about her son.


	2. Apple slices and Soulmates

The two never really talked about colors. Sure, it was cool that they could see colors, but they were both quickly so used to it, it didn’t really matter. Dave had forgotten about the soulmates thing, and Kurt never really talked about it either. They played together several times, and after a while, it seemed like even Kurt’s parents liked hanging out with Dave’s parents which meant that they got to play together even more.

Sometimes, when his mom had a big test to study for, Dave would spend the whole day at Kurt’s house. Those were the days that Dave loved the most. Kurt’s house was always fun.

The two of them settled in Kurt’s playroom, quietly munching on apples and carrot sticks as they watched a movie about a princess who wanted to find her prince charming. When they got to the scene with the princess seeing colors, Dave glanced over to Kurt, remembering the conversation with his mom.

“My mommy said that when you and your soulmate touch, you get to see all the colors, so does that mean we’re soulmates, Kurt?” Dave asked, slowly chewing on an apple slice. He wanted to be Kurt’s prince, which sounded really cool. Kurt tilted his head, thinking for a moment. 

“Soulmates?” he said. Dave nodded.

“Yeah! I don’t know what those are, but she said her and daddy are soulmates,” he replied. Kurt furrowed his eyebrows. 

“I don’t know what soulmates mean, but I’m sure my mommy knows?” he said. Dave nodded again. Kurt put his apple slice back on his plate and then got up from the table. Dave watched as Kurt disappeared into the other room. 

He looked around. Kurt’s playroom was really cool. He always loved coming over. It was bright and colorful, and he had so many cool toys. He even had dress-up clothes! 

Suddenly, Kurt and his mom came back. She sat down with her own plate of apples at the little table with them. “Kurt says you both want to know about soulmates and colors?” she said softly. The two nodded. “Well, soulmates are someone that you’re meant to be with forever. They’re your perfect person, someone who is going to be your best friend forever. And when you and your soulmate touch, you get to see color,” she explained. Dave looked at Kurt and went wide-eyed. The two looked at each other, big smiles on their faces. 

Elizabeth wanted to ask why they were super curious about it, but given what was on the tv right then, she figured that it had something to do with the show. She sat there with them as they finished their snacks. Either way, she decided that their curiosity was the cutest thing.

\--

With the summer ending, kindergarten was about to begin. Kurt and Dave had been inseparable, usually at one or the other’s house. The first day of school was no different. The two of them had posed for pictures together, and Kurt’s mom had driven them to school. Somehow they had ended up in the same class, which Diane expected Elizabeth had something to do with it, but considering how excited David was, she wasn’t going to say anything. 

Wherever Dave could be found, Kurt was usually nearby. It wasn’t uncommon for the two of them to do anything and everything together. When two boys started bullying Kurt three weeks into school, Dave scared them off. After that, everyone knew that Dave was going to protect Kurt no matter what. 

One of Kurt’s favorite things to do was hold Dave’s hand. Dave’s hand was bigger than his, and most of the time he was really warm. Dave didn’t mind, Kurt’s hands were soft, and he always felt a fun tingling sensation through his body whenever Kurt held his hand. They held hands a lot at school and Kurt’s house, but after Dave’s dad had caught them at home, he explained that holding hands wasn’t allowed at home. Kurt had been disappointed, but they knew that if Dave’s mommy caught them, they’d be in trouble, so they made sure that they never held hands ever again at Dave’s house.

\--

Halfway through the year, Diane and Paul Karofsky decided that they wanted to take a trip for their anniversary. When they had mentioned it to the Hummels, Elizabeth had been quick to volunteer to watch David. “Kurt would be ecstatic, plus it’d give you two some time to be alone,” she hummed eagerly. Although Diane was hesitant, Paul had eagerly agreed to the offer.

“Diane, it’s been forever since we’ve had a whole week to ourselves,” he pointed out. Letting out a long sigh, Diane had agreed. 

Dave gave a small yawn. It was early in the morning, way earlier than Dave usually was awake, but Paul insisted they have an early start for their anniversary trip. Diane looked down sympathetically at her son. Normally, David was a heavy sleeper, and getting him awake enough to take him over was a feat. At first, Diane had been nervous about the idea of leaving David with the Hummel’s, but when they told David what was happening, he was ecstatic. “A whole week with Kurt?!” he cheered, a smile wide on his face, and it had pretty much been settled there. While Paul loaded up their car, Diane escorted her sleepy son to the Hummel’s house. She didn’t ring the doorbell and had to physically hold David back from ringing it. 

“You don’t want to wake up Mr. Hummel, David...” she warned. He sighed and nodded. When Elizabeth answered the door, she cheerfully ushered them in. 

Dave shrugged off his jacket, handing it to his mom, and then kicked off his shoes. He gave a quick goodbye kiss to his mom, and then within seconds, he was off. 

“Are you sure it’s okay for David to stay with you?” Diane asked. Elizabeth giggled.

“We love having Dave around. Don’t worry Diane, just enjoy your trip with Paul. After all, you two deserve a break!”

Diane gave a small sigh. She knew that she could trust the Hummels. After all, the Hummel family had become one of their closest friends, but she still worried slightly for David. “I appreciate this...the number of the hotel we’re staying at is in David’s bag, so if you need anything, we should be reachable that way.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Don’t worry, I’m sure that everything will be fine Diane! I’ll call you immediately if it isn’t!”

Diane sighed and nodded. “Thanks for this,” she hummed, setting down David’s bag. She hesitated once more and then fished out a spare key. “Just in case he needs something from the house,” she explained, handing it over to Elizabeth. Elizabeth nodded.

“Don’t worry Diane, it’ll all be fine.” She assured her once more, smiling warmly at her friend. She reached for the women, hugging her tightly. "You should go before your husband decides to leave without you," she teased.

Diane lingered in the hug for a bit longer, before pulling away. "Okay, okay, I'll go. Let me know if you need us or David causes any issues."

Elizabeth laughed and waved the woman goodbye. Diane stood there for one more moment, and then turned, leaving David with the Hummels.

\--

When Dave got to Kurt’s room, Kurt was sitting in his bed, half-awake. “Kurt!” Dave hummed. Sleepily, Kurt smiled. Dave crawled up onto Kurt’s bed. 

“‘M sleepy still..” Kurt mumbled, already laying back down. Dave bit his lip, not sure what to do. He wasn’t that tired anymore, the fact that he got to be with Kurt made it so that he wasn’t, but if Kurt was tired, he could probably go back to sleep. He laid down next to his friend and cuddled up to him, holding him protectively. “Dave?” Kurt mumbled.

“Is it okay?” Dave asked. Kurt sleepily nodded. Dave gave a small smile and closed his eyes. He liked this. He felt like with Kurt there, he could have the best sleep ever. 

Elizabeth walked up the stairs to Kurt’s room, but when she got to his door, she stopped. There they were, already fast asleep. So much for her early morning breakfast plans. Still, she couldn’t help but smile seeing the two. They really were cute together. If only they had been soulmates. Kurt seemed so much happier when David was around. She bit her lip and then turned away, going for her camera. She had to capture this moment, Diane would probably get a kick out of it too. 

She eventually returned and snapped a few photos. She suspected that she was going to take a lot of pictures that week. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if my pacing is okay or not, hopefully it doesn't feel too rushed. But my hope is that I can save space for flashbacks and side things if I can find the inspiration later! There's about one more chapter (two if I find the inspiration to write more about the trip) in the kid part of the story, after that I'll be jumping forward!


	3. Milk or Orange Juice?

Kurt and Dave sat at the dinner table, eagerly waiting for their food. Elizabeth held up a milk jug and orange juice. “Milk or orange juice for breakfast?” She asked. The two boys looked at each other.   
“Orange juice!” They both announced. Elizabeth laughed. Of course, they would both pick the same thing.   
“Mommy, can I drink it out of your pink mug?” Kurt spoke up.   
“And can I have the blue cup?” Dave added. Elizabeth stared at the two of them, mouth agape. How could these two possibly know about what colors the mugs and cups were?   
“Kurt...you can see colors?” She asked softly. He nodded happily. So she turned to David. “And you can too?” She asked. He also nodded.   
“Before school started, Dave and I were at the park, and he was trying to help me with the monkey bars, but then I slipped. When he caught me, suddenly everything was really colorful!” he explained. Mrs. Hummel’s face softened.  
“I think my mom said that when people see colors they’re soulmates, right Mrs. Hummel? So that means that Kurt and I are soulmates, right?” He asked. She hesitated. No wonder the two of them got along so well.  
“I’m really happy for you two,” she said softly.   
“Kurt has really pretty blue eyes!” Dave announced. “They’re like the sky! At least, they look like the sky and my mommy said that the sky is blue.”  
She chuckled. “He does have blue eyes, you’re right!”   
“That’s why blue is my favorite color. It’s a pretty color and it reminds me of Kurt!” Dave grinned. Kurt looked over and blushed. 

“Really? It’s your favorite because of me?” He asked. Dave nodded eagerly. 

Elizabeth watched the two of them, her heart warmed. They were adorable, she was glad she got to witness this.

—  
After the week had passed, Elizabeth had taken way more photos than she wanted to admit. The two of them were just too cute, it had been too hard to resist. They had gone on so many adventures together, and deep down, she almost wished that she could just keep Dave there for a while longer.

Dave wanted to play at Kurt’s house forever, but when his mom finally came to pick him up, he knew that he had to go home. Dramatically, he gave a loud sigh and went to go pick up all his things. Diane smiled at her son’s dramatics.   
“How’d he do this week? Hopefully, he didn’t cause too much trouble. I know he gets kind of rowdy sometimes, especially when he’s tired.” She asked. Elizabeth grinned, putting a thumbs up.   
“I think he did pretty good. Seemed like he was having a lot of fun. Like usual, seems like they were inseparable. He should have all his homework done now by the way. We spent some time last night working on it.” She explained.  
Diane gave a sigh of relief. “He usually fights with me on getting his work done. It’s like pulling teeth with that boy, I swear.”  
“We just reminded him that the quicker they got their homework done, the sooner they could play. But Diane, David is welcome here whenever he wants to come over! We had a couple of times where neither of them wanted to go to bed on time, but they did pretty well together otherwise. I know Kurt had a lot of fun having David around. You’ve got a great kid!” Elizabeth gleefully announced. Diane gave a small smile.  
“Well, I certainly appreciate it! Oh! I forgot, here!” she paused, pulling out a small wrapped gift. “It’s not much, but I saw it and thought of you!” She hummed. Elizabeth stared at the present, wide-eyed, and then took it.   
“You really didn’t have to get me anything!” She gasped. Diane shook her head.   
“No, I saw it and I thought of you. So...I hope you like it.” She replied. Elizabeth stared at the package, and then slowly opened it. Out fell a small bracelet with a tiny cherry blossom in the middle. She gave a small blush, holding it closer to her heart.   
“Diane! It’s beautiful!” she hummed. Diane immediately blushed and then looked away, admittedly happy by the reaction that Elizabeth showed towards the present.   
The two stood, watching their sons clean up. Elizabeth watched the two with a small smile. She would do whatever she could to keep Kurt happy like that. She glanced at Diane, humming softly.  
“They told me something really cute the other day,” she sighed happily. Diane raised an eyebrow at her friend.   
“Oh?”  
“David and Kurt are seeing colors. It’s kind of adorable, I wish I had met my Burt as young as they met each other,” she giggled. Diane’s smile faded, and the mood shifted.  
“Excuse me?”  
“They’re soulmates. They said the other day when they were playing, they started seeing colors.”  
Diane frowned. “I don’t think that’s possible.”  
Elizabeth felt the smile slip from her lips, stomach dropping. Almost immediately, she could tell where this was going. “What do you mean?”  
“There is no way my son has a soulmate that’s a boy.”   
“I don’t think they’re lying. David said that Kurt’s eyes were blue like the sky, and I can confirm that Kurt’s eyes are blue. I don’t see anything wrong with two boys being soulmates. Just like I don’t see the problem with u-”  
Diane’s lips pursed together, cutting Elizabeth off. “I see. Well. Thank you again for allowing David to stay here again. David! It’s time to go home!”  
Dave sadly got up when he was called, but not before pulling Kurt into a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow Kurt!”  
Kurt gave a small wave, hugging the boy back.   
As soon as Dave let go and wandered over to his mom, Diane gripped Dave’s hand tightly and led him out of the house quickly. Dave tilted his head up, looking at his mom curiously. “Mommy? Are you okay?” he asked. She didn’t reply, instead of waiting till the two were inside.  
“You’re not going to be playing with the Hummels again, do you understand?” she said, voice trembling as she spoke. Dave frowned, tears immediately coming to his eyes.  
“But mommy, Kurt’s my friend! I thought you liked Kurt’s mommy,” he replied.   
“No, he’s a bad influence on you. You’re not soulmates with Kurt.”   
Dave frowned. “But you said when you see colors you’re with your soulmate...” he pouted. She shook her head.  
“That doesn’t matter. He’s not your soulmate. You’re not allowed to see Kurt anymore.”  
He thrashed his body to try to pull away from his mom. Why was his mom suddenly being like this? They always hung out with the Hummels. He thought his mom liked Kurt and his mom and dad? They had always spent so much time, and his mom always seemed like she was so happy whenever she got to spend time with Kurt’s mom. “That’s not fair! I like spending time with Kurt. He’s fun, and his mommy is nice, and he makes me happy!” he screamed at her, tears falling down his face. She held his arm tighter.  
“David, you will not see him. No son of mine is going to be a homosexual, do you understand me? Boys aren’t supposed to be soulmates with other boys, that’s disgusting and wrong.” She repeated. He pulled his arm from her and ran to his room, crying loudly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to update sooner, but work has kind of killed me this last week. This was supposed to be longer, but I need to work on the next part a little more so i'm breaking it up into two chapters rather than one. I hope you guys enjoy (:

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a hot minute since I've written anything for Glee, so apologies for the rather potentially out of character feel and honestly how rough it is. I spend too much time on Tiktok and kept seeing this soulmate idea and thanks to the Dave Karofsky discord server, I've gotten to the point I wanted to write it, so hey shout out to them and server sprinting lol


End file.
